On Monday I had an experience that was so remarkable, and sweet, that I thought it really worth sharing. My wife and I were enjoying a picnic by the Swan River, sitting on a blanket, when a young duck waddled over. I offered it a cracker and it ignored that, and instead proceeded to tap its beak on my phone. When it couldn't get any joy from that, it nestled up next to my leg and let me stroke its neck and head. After a while, it pulled one leg up, standing on the other, and turned its head back, tucked its beak into its back feathers, then closed its eyes and went to sleep. It sat there against my leg for an hour or so, snoozing. Then it wandered away a short distance and grazed on the grass, coming back to check in occasionally. I picked it up and it didn't protest, so I took it down to the river where some young children were playing, to let them pat the duck. They were delighted, and I put the duck on the sand and it just stood there. Returning to the picnic blanket, I was surprised to see the duck following, and when I sat down it came over and proceeded to hang around, grazing on the grass and then checking in every now and again as before. It behaved like a young child who is staying close to his mother. When we left, it started to follow us and then at some point dropped back and went its own way. I felt as if I could have picked it up and put it in the car and taken it home, and it would have been entirely happy with the procedure.

We used to keep ducks, and chickens, and none of them - all domesticated creatures - would have behaved anything like this wild animal!

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